Maple Leaf Cement’s profit falls 45% to Rs586.7m

Drop comes following decrease in other income, increase in costs

KARACHI: Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited’s (MLCF) consolidated profit dropped 45% to Rs586.69 million in the quarter ended September 30, 2018 due to the fall in other income and rise in finance and distribution costs.

The cement manufacturer had recorded a profit of Rs1.07 billion in the same quarter last year. Earnings per share of the company fell to Rs0.99 in the Jul-Sept 2018 quarter compared to Rs1.98 in the corresponding period of previous year.



MLCF’s share price hit the upper limit of 5%, or surged Rs1.86, at Rs39.15 with trading in 4.09 million shares at the PSX on Wednesday when the benchmark KSE-100 index surged 1,556 points, or 4.13%, and closed at 39,271 points.

“This (drop in profit) is because of a 44% rise in distribution costs, 78% fall in other income and 2.3-fold rise in finance cost,” Topline Securities said in post-result comments to its clients.

The distribution cost surged to Rs382.07 million in Jul-Sept 2018 compared to Rs266.15 million last year. Other income plunged to Rs3.65 million compared to Rs16.80 million in the previous year.



Finance cost increased to Rs333.08 million in the Jul-Sept quarter as opposed to Rs144.07 million in the same quarter last year. Net sales shrank to Rs5.65 billion in Jul-Sept 2018 against Rs5.80 billion last year. “This is (mainly) due to 14% decline in overall cement dispatches, of which local and export sales were lower by 13% and 24% respectively,” Sherman Securities said in its report.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 25^th, 2018.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.